


It's their loss

by Calla_Lilalma



Series: The sport of life [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: After Cannon I guess, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Restaurant, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I wrote this instead of studying., M/M, Rare Pairings, We know nothing about Sakusa so I just put my own headcannons in.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-08 16:18:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8851690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calla_Lilalma/pseuds/Calla_Lilalma
Summary: “You always come to this place and never talk much, but now these two assholes are harassing me and you step in and defend me”  AU





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hei! It's me again! with another rare pair that noone had done!  
> I don't know anymore! It's almost three in the morning where I am and instead of doing that, i wrote another fic, a one shot but still!
> 
> But I saw this prompt in tumbrl and I immediately thought of these two characters! I absolutely love Aone, he's like the character that I fell in love at first sight! Am I the only one whose heart broke a little when they saw Aone's current concern? Because, damn!  
> Also about Sakusa... I wanted to keep waiting for the manga to show more characters to ship him with or at least learn something about him but.... niente! So I put some of my own headcannon that I will list on the other notes, after the chapter.  
> Constructive feedback is always welcome and don't hesitate to leave a comment or a kudo if you want to!  
> Hope you'll like it!

If someone asked high school Kiyoomi  if he ever planned on getting a job in which he had to talk to complete strangers and for hour, he would have looked at them in the eyes with a blank  expression until they became so uncomfortable that they’d run away.

But second year university student Kiyoomi is currently wishing he could do that to his past self for being so naïve.

Working at a restaurant was the second worst job he could get, the first being working in a fast food place. At least the place wasn’t too popular so he had a small personal bubble around him and the costumers didn’t care about the fact that he wasn’t smiling as long as he got their order correctly.

Another plus of the job was that no one gave a damn about the fabric gloves he wore. There was no way he’d touch a strangers plate or cup with bare hands. Many of the costumers seem to feel the same as the sometimes nod at him approvingly. Not that he needs it, but it’s nice to know that he won’t get fired because of it.

He got the job in the middle of his first year at university when he learnt that his parents were going to have another baby and with his two sisters at the ages of ten and six, Kiyoomi didn’t want to be a burden to them by having them pay for his needs. He was the oldest child and an adult. He should be able to take care of himself.

So he went looking. He wouldn’t exactly say that he was desperate but he was in urgent need of a job. Luckily the manager of the restaurant understood the situation he was in and hired him to work part time there.

He had a rocky start as he tried to find the perfect balance between work, volleyball practice and his computer science degree. But after a couple of months he started found his rhythm.  He learnt how to be a little more at ease when interacting with others and it’s a good thing that he doesn’t work on rush hour.

He has noticed a few regulars in his shift as well. The two teenagers that come and giggle a lot while always ordering sea food. The mother with a small toddler that’s always bubbling happily, reminding Kiyoomi of his little sisters and making him look forward to his upcoming sibling, and he even cracks a smile at them as he gives them the day’s special soup to go.

But the regular that intrigues him the most is the one that sits on one of the further tables in his coworkers area, who has his face buried in his books, stopping only to eat.  The only thing Kiyoomi can tell with certainty is that the stranger has snow white hair and that he doesn’t speak much, according to his coworker.

He asked about the guy one day as he tried to make small talk with the other waiter, who fortunately got that it wasn’t his forte so she answered with a smile that the guy with white hair orders steak with mash potatoes but now that New Year’s approaching he also orders kuni kinton as dessert. She says that the man has a scary face so it’s a little hard for her to take his order. 

Kiyoomi shrugs it off. He learnt what he wanted to know and the rest was none of his business.

Until it becomes his business again…

It was a Wednesday afternoon and there was the normal amount of costumers and Kiyoomi was wiping the empty tables out of boredom. And also because you can never be too careful with the germs.

Then the bell chimes, showing that new customers have arrived.  They are two guys around the same age as him and there is something vaguely familiar with them but he can’t put his finger on it.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Sakusa!” one of them says.

Kiyoomi becomes wary now.

“I’d never thought mister top ace would work in a place like this” the other one joined.

“If you are not planning on sitting, then I suggest you leave” Kiyoomi says in a hard voice. The two men glare at him.

“You don’t remember us, huh Sakusa? You’re the reason we didn’t get into the team.” The first guy growls and grabs Kiyoomi from the collar of his uniform. He briefly remembered the volleyball tryouts when he was one of the two freshmen who got in, leaving at least ten people out. Still, he didn’t understand how it was his fault.

“The team recruited the best” is all he answers, making them even angrier than before and the one not holding him raises his fist to punch him. Kiyoomi, despite his height has no experience in fighting and he closes his eyes as a reflex, waiting and hoping for the lesser pain.

He remembers being in this situation too many times in elementary and in middle school, when the other kids were bulling him due to his aversion to germs and later also because he ‘got all the girls’ because he played volleyball.

Yet after a few seconds, the punch didn’t come. He hesitantly opens his eyes and sees the two assholes looking behind him with scared expressions. He also notices the hand aimed to hit him was held forcefully by another, bigger and stronger arm.

He is let go and the assholes leave the place running. Kiyoomi takes a couple of breaths and looks to his savior.

It’s the stranger he was curious about the other day.

He is a few centimeters  taller than him, with an impressively athletic built with wide shoulders, broad chest and muscular arms. His expression is stoic, yet he can see the small signs of concern in his eyes.

A fleeting thought about how good looking he is comes to his mind, but he shushes it away immediately.

“Are you alright?” the stranger asks with a deep voice, yet a little rough, like he doesn’t use it often. 

Now it’s Kiyoomi’s turn to talk.

“Um…yeah. Thanks” he responds unsure of what to say further.

The stranger nods once at him and passes him by to leave the restaurant, leaving Kiyoomi baffled. The manager comes worried and asks him what happened and to describe the two guys so they can never set a foot on the restaurant.  He answers as well as he can, he thoughts still on disarray and a reminder that whenever he sees the tall stranger with the white hair again, he’s going to thank him.

~ ~ ~

The following Friday’s morning finds Kiyoomi running to the station to catch the train to campus. So far his day has gone for bad to worse, starting from his late beginning on getting out of bed, to having no hot water to shower with and settling to cold water in MID DECEMBER and spilling juice to his gloves. Normally it’d just ticked him off and would look for his second or third pair but today he couldn’t find them at first glance. By the time he finds them, he would already be late to the lecture so with a heavy heart full of disgust he left with no gloves to protect him from neither the cold nor the germs.

At least he had his mask on.

He arrives at the station just in time to board. The train was full of people and now that his glove were missing he could feel a mild panic seeping in his mind.

Looking around he saw that there were two empty seats on either side of a person. As of his luck was repaying him for this morning, that person was the white haired stranger who had not come to the restaurant since the incident. He looked around again to see if someone was going to sit there but the passengers seemed wary of the man, addressing him cautious glances, probably intimidated by his stoic and serious expression.

Mentally rolling his eyes at them, Kiyoomi quickly goes and sits next to him, on his right side. The stranger looks up at him with slightly widened eyes as the only sign that he’s surprised, and Kiyoomi nods at him as a greeting. After a few seconds, the stranger’s face seems, at least to Kiyoomi, to soften a bit as he nods back.

From there, they sit in silence but, oddly, Kiyoomi feels at ease despite his hate on crowds.  The stranger next to him gives off a reliable aura, like in case something happens he will have someone to support him.

The confirmation to that statement comes true halfway through the forty minute train ride when Kiyoomi starts really feeling the loss of his gloves on his hands. First it’s the cold air that makes his fingers stiff and when he puts them in his pockets for too long they start getting sweaty and disgusting. His gloves were specifically picked by him as they have the right fabric to protect his hands from situations like these and at the same time don’t restrict his movements or his grip on stuff.

He didn’t know he was fidgeting his fingers in his lap until shuffling snapped him out of it. He sees with the corners of his eye the stranger looking into his backpack.

Then he pulls out a paper box, like the ones that have tissues on them, and moves it slightly towards Kiyoomi’s direction and turns to look at the wall straight ahead.

Kiyoomi turns his attention towards the box and a myriad of positive and confused emotions take over him as he sees that the box instead of having tissues, it has medic one time gloves. He looks back at the stranger and sees a light, invisible if someone doesn’t pay enough attention, red color on his cheeks and nods, still staring ahead.

“Take as many as you need” his deep voice is ringing pleasantly on Kiyoomi’s ears. He ends up taking four pairs , puts three of them in a safe place in his ow bag carefully, and quickly put the last one on. He doesn’t care how he looks, the feeling of relief overcomes it all.

“Thank you” he says at the other, smiling under the mask but he doesn’t know if the other notices. He receives a shy nod in reply. Then there is easy going silence again.

He looks around and notices a few thing more clearly. First the seat in the other side of the stranger is still empty and the train is still packed. Second, the still wary glances of the other passengers toward the latter but along with the downcast look on the stranger’s face. Like he was used to people not wanting to take the seats next to him and preferring to stand uncomfortably, squeezed with others like a can of sardines. The situation clicks into his brain, but it’s something, he realizes, he would rather not know.

“it’s their loss” he says out loud and the stranger looks up at him again, confused.

“that they’d rather stand than sit next to you” he clarifies “it’s their loss.”

They look each other straight in the eyes for a few seconds, the stranger probably trying to read him and he gives Kiyoomi a small, grateful smile.

He has a nice smile. Kiyoomi’s heart skips a little and he feels his cheeks heat up.

The train arrives at the station and Kiyoomi stands. With him so does the stranger. They get off the train together and walk the five minute walk to campus.

“I’m Aone” the stranger, Aone, says before the part ways.

“I’m Sakusa” he replies and with a slight bow they both leave to their respective faculties.

~ ~ ~

“hey” Kiyoomi call his coworker  the afternoon of the same day “if the guy with the white hair comes again, can I get his table from now on?” he asks looking everywhere but her, hoping she takes nothing from his fidgeting hands and his slightly red face.

~ ~ ~

Aone finally comes to the restaurant on Monday afternoon.

He sits on his usual table and is surprised when it’s Kiyoomi that takes his order. It’s as his coworker said ‘a steak with mash potatoes’. When he comes back the other rearranges his books on the side and Kiyoomi catches a glimpse of the words ‘anatomy’ and ‘biology’. He places the food in front of him and turn to leave towards the family that just came in.

He occasionally looks at Aone while he works.

When the latter finishes his food, he goes over to pick it up and comes back with a plate of kuri kinton which he places in front of the other.

“I didn’t order this” Aone states.

“I know” Kiyoomi starts “it’s on the house. I wanted to thank you for the other day. You may not remember, when two guys came here and caused ruckus. And for the gloves on Friday.”

“I remember” 

“…”

“ah.. would you like to keep me company?” Aone asks, then quickly speaks again “I mean, you don’t have to, but … --”

“yes”  Kiyoomi says a bit too quickly “let me inform the manager that I’m taking my break now” he turns and speaks to his coworker who give him a smile and a nod, takes of the apron and returns to the table, sitting across from Aone.

There is awkward silence for a bit and Aone offering to share the food with his so it would be weird, which Kiyoomi immediately refused, it was his thank you gift after all.

“have those guys come back?” he asks.

“No, the manager made sure they are not welcome.” Kiyoomi replies earning a nod from Aone. He stares at the books again, thick with hard covers and lets his curiosity take over.

“do you have a box full of gloves because you’re studying to be a doctor?”

The other looks away, an embarrassed red tints the tips of his ears.

“A vet actually. Second year. I have all kinds of supplies with me. Gloves, bandages and others. There are many injured strays on the streets that need help. If it’s too serious, I take them in the clinic I work part time.” He explains and it’s the longest Kiyoomi has heard him speak.

He also learnt that Aone, despite his stoic exterior, has a heart of gold.

“that’s really noble of you.” He exclaims softly, impressed by the man in front of him.

The other doesn’t seem to know how to respond to his compliment, so he stays silent.

“what do you study?” he asks back, to keep the conversation going.

“Computer science. Also second year. I haven’t decided what to do with it but it opens many doors. But I hope I get recruited to play volleyball professionally.”

“I’ve seen many of your games” Aone tells him “I’m a fan of our university team and” he pauses  “ a fan of yours. It’s impressive that you’re a second year and in the starting line.”  His admission makes Kiyoomi’s face flush as he says a meek ‘thank you’.

 Soon, too soon in Kiyoomi’s opinion, his break ends and Aone also has to go. He pays for the meal (he still insists on paying for dessert but Kiyoomi’s having none of it).

“can I have your phone number?” he asks Aone before he leaves, feeling a rush of bravery in his chest. The other stills but pulls out his phone and exchanges with Kiyoomi for each one to write their name and number on it. It takes seconds but to him, but the importance is far more than that to him.

After that the bow slightly and Aone leaves the restaurant.

Kiyoomi resumes serving the arriving costumers when his phone beeps, notifying him that he has a message. He unlocks it and sees the name Aone Takanobu on the screen.

The name suits him, he thinks. He presses on it and sees the message.

**Aone Takanobu :** you are probably still working but thank you again for the dessert. It’s my favourite .

It’s a simple message but it still makes Kiyoomi grin. And now he knows something more about the other. He doesn’t resist the urge to reply immediately.

**Me:** it’s not a problem.

He feels that the message is not enough and spontaneously decides to send another one.

**Me:** the day after tomorrow we have a practice match with another university. Would you like to come and watch?

He just hopes it isn’t too forward.

It takes a minute to get an answer and his breath is caught in his lungs.

**Aone Takanobu:** If it isn’t a bother, I’d like that very much. Thank you.

 

Kiyoomi doesn’t even bother hiding his smile for the rest of his shift.  

**Author's Note:**

> Sakusa Headcannons I have until now (may be wrong if the manga shows otherwise)  
> The ones with !! after the number aren't necessarily in the fic.  
> 1\. Sakusa is the oldest child and has a huge age gap with his siblings.  
> 2\. He has at least two younger sisters (and another sibling on the way according to me).  
> 3\. He was bullied in elementary school or middle school or both because of his aversion to dirt and germs.  
> 4.He was bullied because he became popular from volleyball and he was a relatively easy target because he didn't seem like the confident athlete everyone expects e.g. Ushijima  
> 5!!. I want to believe that the buling stopped because his friends intefered and I'm going to believe it with all my heart.  
> 6!!. Maybe he went to the same middle school with Komori? I don't know. I'm thinking about it.  
> 7!!. He is against violence and he teaches his younger sisters/siblings that violence isn't going to solve anything. Self Defense is fine when you're in a bad situation but initiating violence is a no-no.  
> 8!!. He doesn't like the sight of blood. But still goes to donate whenever he can.  
> 9!!. He isn't a loner as many would think. He has a good amount of friends (not a lot but not 1 or 2 either)  
> 10\. His hands get either really really cold or really fucking sweaty. No in-betweens! (I have that too and it's the worst)  
> 11\. He has a lot of pairs of gloves that are just the right material for him to not have to deal with headcannon #10 ( if they are custom made is debatable)  
> 12\. I really like the idea of him studying computer science. I looked up what jobs need such a degree and many of them, I think suit Sakusa a lot.  
> For now, that's it! That was a lot of them! But you know, 3am does wonders on someone.


End file.
